Demonstration Of The Bixonic’s Axentrix A1 'New-gen Distortion Pedal'
Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario calls the Axentrix A1 “an eye-catching design loaded with tons of distortion tones,” and that’s an understatement.
The pedal adds in an extra selectable drive mode, for four in total: Crunch, Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz. Also new is an Accent function that allows for a wide variety of expressions, carrying on the unique dynamic range expansion effects of the Expandora.
The pedal adds in an extra selectable drive mode, for four in total: Crunch, Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz. Also new is an Accent function that allows for a wide variety of expressions, carrying on the unique dynamic range expansion effects of the Expandora.
Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:06 What's up? It's Paul from Guitar World and today we'll be checking out a brand new pedal from Bixonic
00:09 with an eye-catching design and one loaded with tons of distortion tones.
00:14 The Xcentrix A1. Let's check it out.
00:26 Bixonic, previously known as the maker of the Xpandora pedal in the late 90s and 2000,
00:30 has returned with a new digital distortion pedal called the Xcentrix A1.
00:35 This new pedal uses a newly developed dynamic range expressor processing, or DREP, technology
00:43 that allows the user to adjust not just the expansion effect, which was a unique feature
00:47 of the Xpandora EXP2000 pedal, but also the compression of the input dynamic range.
00:53 The Xcentrix A1 includes four drive modes, crunch, overdrive, distortion, and fuzz,
00:58 and once you pair any of the drive modes with the DREP technology
01:02 accent function, you can begin to sculpt your own unique tone.
01:06 Let's take a look at the controls and how to access their secondary functions.
01:10 You'll see the controls and written underneath is what their secondary function is.
01:18 Starting with the level control, if you press and hold it for two seconds,
01:22 you get to select between guitar or bass, and you'll see the foot switch light up red for guitar,
01:27 where the low frequency is removed, or blue for bass.
01:31 And don't be afraid to use blue for guitar if it sounds great to your ears.
01:35 The accent control, this carries on the tradition of the Xpandora's dynamic range expansion effect.
01:41 Think of it as a feel control. Moving clockwise accentuates picking attack,
01:45 and counterclockwise invites percussiveness at low gain or more sustained at higher gain settings.
01:51 The secondary function is illumination,
01:54 so you can set the brightness of the knobs by holding it down two seconds.
01:58 The gain control, of course this is self-explanatory, it dials in the amount of gain,
02:03 but if you hold it down for two seconds, you get to change the types of drive available.
02:09 So when you see it light up for green, that's crunch, yellow overdrive, red distortion,
02:16 and purple for fuzz. Next up, the tone control, or the three-band EQ.
02:21 You press and hold for two seconds, and it illuminates white,
02:24 and now you have access to the three-band EQ. So the level control becomes the treble,
02:29 the tone control becomes the mid, and the gain control becomes the bass.
02:32 The Accentrix A1 is battery powered or AC powered, however, it's better to use this
02:38 pedal with a power supply, because if you leave it plugged in with a battery,
02:41 when you're not using it, you'll drain the battery. With the switch on the side,
02:45 you can also select whether you want true bypass or buffered bypass with the selector switch.
02:51 The foot switch will light up white in buffered bypass, and to set up your buffered bypass tone,
02:57 you turn off the pedal and select buffered bypass, and the knobs will turn white with
03:02 the accent knob turning blue. Use the accent knob to set the dynamic range and the others for EQ.
03:10 The same idea with the controls for bass, mid, and treble, with treble at the volume,
03:16 mid at the tone, and bass at the gain knob in buffered bypass. Once you have your buffered
03:22 bypass tone, hit any knob to store it. There's also three memory buttons with a save button,
03:28 and you can see it's real easy to use. Hit save once you get a setting,
03:33 they'll light up and select where you wish to save and recall that preset.
03:37 Bixonic also offers an external foot switch that's sold separately to easily recall the settings.
03:43 There's also an onboard tuning meter which works the minute you plug it in. You'll see the light
03:56 spins in blue, and you have to have the effects off and the Accentrix A1 set up to buffered bypass.
04:03 The light for the string you choose rotates clockwise if you're sharp, and counterclockwise
04:08 if you're flat. When the light stops spinning, you're in tune, much like a strobe tuner.
04:13 All right, now I'm in buffered bypass, that's where the switch is set.
04:17 So this is my buffered bypass tone.
04:19 And you get to hear the range of the kind of distortion. So what you just heard,
04:29 very crunchy type of distortion. Now listen to this type of distortion, very different.
04:55 Here's more of a higher gain distortion, check it out.
05:00 Moving over to purple, here we have a fuzz setting.
05:18 So
05:26 here you can see the gains dialed back on this one.
05:51 So
06:18 Bixonic Accentrix A1 is undoubtedly a new gen distortion pedal that offers an endless supply
06:23 of drive tones for any playing style. With the ability to save up to three different sounds,
06:29 an onboard tuning meter, and secondary functions that allow for tailoring the EQ
06:34 to your style of playing, the Accentrix A1 is a jam-packed distortion stomp box worth your time.
06:40 Definitely check it out.
06:49 So
07:02 you